8 Insane Rides That Might Have Killed You At The 'World's Most Dangerous Amusement Park'

If you were looking to have fun in the tristate area back in the 1980s, there's a high chance you placed all your bets on Action Park in New Jersey.

Action Park, which was known for being one of the first real water parks, was also known for being ridiculously dangerous and completely out of hand.

This was simply due to the fact that there were basically no rules and regulations followed. Patrons who've experienced Action Park blame the unsafe environment on the fact that it was the "guinea pig" of water parks. Things that had never really been tested before were being used here on a daily basis.

Six people died at Action Park during its heyday from 1978 to 1996. Along with those six deaths, the park also had countless injuries tacked onto its reputation.

“At Action Park, it felt like you were in some crazy guy’s backyard,” Dave Schlussman, a 30-year-old man, told the New York Post.

Despite how unsafe and dangerous Action Park was, the park reopened in Vernon, NJ on June 15, 2014. There are a bunch of newly revamped rides including a $1 million "zero gravity" water slide.

We're left to wonder if the new rides will be anywhere near as intense and dangerous as the old attractions. Below are the craziest, most dangerous rides housed at Action Park -- the world's most dangerous amusement park!

The Cannonball Loop

This was the first attraction that greeted guests upon their arrival. It's fair to say that choosing to visit Action Park meant that you were willing to risk your life

First off, it was rumored that the Cannonball Loop was tested using crash test dummies that came out dismembered at the end of the slide. In addition to that, park employees were supposedly paid $100 to test out the ride.

In short, if you didn't gather enough speed, you basically fell on your head and scratched up your back on the way out due to sand and dirt build up.

The Kayak Experience

A person died at this attraction. Firstly, if you headed to Action Park to go kayaking, it's safe to say you probably didn't know anything about kayaking. Regardless, the experience itself wasn't what was dangerous.

During his run, a young man's kayak flipped over and when he got out of the capsized vessel to flip it back over, he stepped on exposed wiring that powered the fans underwater. These fans were used to create rough currents and simulate real kayaking. The wire shocked the guy to death.

Aqua Scoot

When you think of a water slide, you don't think of conveying rollers like the ones used to send boxes of goods off trucks and into supermarket stock rooms. But that's exactly what Action Park used to create the Aqua Scoot.

Patrons hopped on plastic boards and slid down a path of conveying rollers right before they were sent into a pool below. As you could probably imagine, there were tons of injuries on this ride.

People were getting severely pinched by these rollers, and if they weren't getting pinched, they were getting hit by people who came flying off the slide after them.

The Grave Pool

The "grave pool" didn't earn its moniker from being a fun-for-all-ages wave pool. Half of Action Park's six deaths occurred in this unsafe and insanely rough wave pool. On-duty life guards were said to have made an estimated 30 rescues a day throughout Action Park's run.

The fact of the matter is, the pool wasn't designed for the powerful waves that came rushing at patrons. On top of that, the operators were pumping out way too many waves at a time, leaving swimmers little to no room for breathing in between.

Geronimo Falls

What's a water park without a speed slide?! This was Action Park's take on the concept, except it was obviously a lot more dangerous than others, for a handful of reasons.

First off, this thing was way too steep and could more accurately be called a deadly drop than a "slide."

Secondly, people would occasionally come flying off the side of the slide before enclosed areas were made to force riders back down, instead of allowing their bodies to fly off.

Lastly, this thing had the ability to get you to a speed of 60 mph.

Tarzan Swing

If you're not Tarzan, you probably shouldn't be swinging from ropes over large bodies of water. Regardless, a lot of people put themselves to the test anyway.

The concept was pretty simple, you would swing like Tarzan from one side of the water, to the other.

However, Action Park didn't think they needed to heat up the water used at this attraction. One man suffered a heart attack from how cold the water was when he flew into it.

The Tarzan swing is still used today.

Surf Hill

If you were to go to any water park today, you'd probably see a ride a lot like the Surf Hill. Many water parks aren't called "water parks" without them. They're standard!

However, Action Park was the guinea pig of water parks, so it hadn't gotten the Surf Hill right just yet. The lane dividers weren't high enough, which meant that some unlucky patrons accidentally jumped lanes and collided with other riders. Not pretty.

Tank Tag

Tank Tag was simple: Riders sat in a bumper car, tank-like vehicle that came with a tennis ball shooter. The vehicle was protected with not only bumpers, but fencing around the window areas so you didn't get blasted in the face with tennis balls.

However, every now and then, one of these tanks would stall and ride operators would have to run out onto the course and start them back up.

As you probably already assumed, these operators got pelted all over their bodies with tennis balls.

And you thought your job was stressful?!

If you don't mind gambling with your life or you just want to see how much the park has cleaned itself up, don't hesitate to make your summer worth it.

Photos Courtesy: Imgur